Carnation-supporter.



N0. 703,0!8. Patented June 24, I902.

' W. W. THOMAS.

CARNATION SUPPOBTEB.

(Application filed Feb. 12, 1902.)

(No Model.

r 4 r 5 0E 0 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM WV. THOMAS, OF TROY, OHIO.

CARNATlON-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 703,019, dated. June24, 1902.

Application filed February 12,1902. Serial No. 93,664. (No model.)

To all whom it puny concern.-

Beitknown thatI, WILLIAM W. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Troy, in the county of Miami and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Carnation-Supporters;and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference markedthereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in carnation-supporters.

The object of the invention is to provide supports of the abovecharacter which may be knocked down to such position as will enable themto occupy a minimum amount of space during shipment.

Referring to the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of -myimproved carnation-supporter, showing it in position to support theflowers while the latter are growing. Fig. 2 is a view showing theposition of the supporter ready to be placed over the plants. Fig. 3 isa top plan View of Fig. 1. Fig. dis a view of the upper portion of thesupporter looking to the right on Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a view showing thesupporter knocked down for packing and shipment.

It will be understood while these plants are growing it is necessary tosupport them in an upright position, so that the weight thereof will notbreak the stems or permit them to lie upon the ground. The present meansfor supporting said plants consists of a series of circular rings a, asuitable number of which are attached to a post Z) by having the ends aof said rings passed through the body of the post at different points asuitable distance apart, the ends 0 of each ring a entering openingsthrough the post and being bent at right angles. The openings in thepost for each ring are one above the other. One end a of each of saidrings penetrates the post above the other end 0, as shown in Fig. 4, andthe said ends are turned at right angles and in opposite directions, sothat each ring when turned to the horizontal position, as shown in Figs.1 ande, will be limited to such horizontal position by the bent ends 0,which act as stops and will thus support the ring in such horizontalposition. To more clearly describe this feature of supporting theringsin a horizontal position, Fig. 4 of the drawings is referred to,where it will be seen that the bent end 0 on the right acts as a stopagainst the upper portion of the ring, and the bent end 0 on the leftacts as a stop for the lower portion of the ring, one of said ends 0projecting up while the other projects down when each of said rings isin a horizontal position. This feature is also illustrated in Fig. 1. Bythus bending the ends 0 of the rings at right angles after passing themthrough the openings in the post Z) the said ends are also preventedfrom drawing out of said opening. It will therefore be seen that therings are maintained in a permanent connection with the post. Thecar-nations, it will be understood, are surrounded by these rings whenin position shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

When a quantity of these supporters are shipped,they may be placed inpositions shown in Fig. 5 by placing the rings in parallel positionswith the post. When placing the supporter in the position shown in Fig.5, the rings are manipulated in the following manner: The top ring ismoved to an approximatelyhorizontal position, the reverse of that shownin Fig. 1. The next lower adjacent ring is next carried over and ispassed below the first ring. Then these upper rings are folded downagainst the side of the post. The two lower rings are then foldedagainst the opposite side of the p0st,as shown in Fig. 5.

The essential feature of the invention consists in the manner of unitingeach ring with the post, whereby there is a pivotal connection formedbetween the post and each ring, which enables the rings to be all movedto horizontal and vertical positions.

The supporter, as shown in Fig. 2,is ready to be placed in a serviceableposition. The post is driven in the ground adjacent to the plants andthe rings are then lowered to inclose the plants.

Having described my invention, 1 claim 1. As a new article ofmanufacture, a carnation-supporter, comprising a post or stake, a seriesof rings each of which has its ends projected through the openings insaid post vide a pivotal connection for each ring with said post,whereby the rings may be moved 15 to positions parallel with the post,and Whereby the said bent ends of said rings form stops to support saidrings in horizontal positions, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 20 in presence of twoWitnesses.

WILLIAM \V. THOMAS.

v\Vitnesses:

W. B. NEVIN, R. J. MOGARTY.

